Unfortunately, an online community doesn’t have virtual mishloach manot. And while 3D printers can do amazing things, we haven’t managed to find one that can bake the perfect poppyseed hamentaschen from digital schematics.

So instead, we offer you this grab bag of of favorite Purim treats on PunkTorah. And since giving tzedakah is part of the Purim experience, we hope you’ll give a suggested $18.00 donation to support all our hard work providing Jewish community to over 300,000 people every year.

Yes — it’s time for Purim! Who doesn’t love Purim? They tried to kill us, they failed, we kicked their @$$ to the 7th generation — LET’S PARTY!!!!

Over on my own site, I waxed poetic (and ritual) about the hamantaschen. Over at , you can find some great hamantaschen recipe. Here at PunkTorah — I want to talk Purim Shpiel. Next to Passover, Purim is one of our most accessible and fun holidays and like Passover, it’s also serious. The Purim Shpiel is the tradition of doing a humorous play that mocks our enemies. Jews do love comedy, after all.

For years, I threw a killer Purim Shpiel at my house. I just called it a Purim party — but it was all the same. It’s amazing how awesome a party where everyone gets lit and acts out the bible while I read it can be. It was also always a huge opportunity for learning. I always read the JPS translation — and all the way through.

When we hit the end one year, my sister started to yell that I was making up the part where we slaughter Haman’s extended family. She didn’t remember that from Purim as a child. A HUGE debate ensued about this and whether or not they actually read the whole Megillah at our childhood synagogue and how this changed our impression of the holiday.

But seriously — when can you read the bible to people without seeming creepy? It’s awesome!

Here’s how I do it. I have some props that are for each main character and either asked friends who wanted to be whom, or in the true spirit of Purim, had them draw lots for parts. If people were unfamiliar with the characters, I would do a quick explanation. Everyone who didn’t play a part, had groggers and other noise makers — plus they got to drink.

Then I just start reading, and my friends act out any interpretation of what I’m saying they like. I can assure you, we had some fascinating interpretations going. I remember a prissy, pissy french Haman. One time it turned out the hidden story was that Haman was jealous of Vashti’s awesome gold/velvet stole. And well, Esther bowing before the King’s “golden scepter” lead to a not so family friendly interpretation of how Esther saved her people….

This year — invite your friends over and read the bible to them. Read the whole Megillah — word for word. Drink — you are obligated by Jewish law to eat, drink and be merry. Seriously — this is the only holiday where you are obligated to have fun. Take the opportunity to see what you can learn from the reveling and topsy-turvy experience of Purim.

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Ketzirah is a Kohenet, Celebrant, and Artist. She works with individuals and groups to explore, discover, and create meaningful rituals and ritual artwork to mark moments in life.

Editor’s note: while High Holidays are nowhere near our calendar right now, this old piece is important because it showcases what Purim means, as well as some timely advice for Jews who are unaffiliated.

Looking ahead toward the High Holidays, I imagine many Jews are considering (and perhaps dreading) what is – for them – a rare visit to synagogue. Arriving to find a large, anxious and somewhat impatient crowd (and on Yom Kippur add in “cranky from lack of food”), the entire experience justifies why one would want to stay away as much as possible.

If that’s your experience, then take my advice and do yourself a favor.

Don’t Go.

How can I say that? Isn’t it a sin to tell another Jew NOT to attend synagogue on the holiest days of the year? Stick with me, because I have a nefarious ulterior motive.

As you fight your way to an unfamiliar seat, I’ll be in that same crowd with you. I will be looking at the unfamiliar faces this year and feeling sorry for the experience they (ie: you) are having.

Trapped in a room where no amount of air conditioning could combat the heat of hundreds of bodies, sitting (and standing, and sitting again over and over seemingly without end or reason) through a service that may or may not be familiar, reading liturgy that is often humbling if not downright accusatory (“we have sinned” and “we are not worthy”). It’s easily enough to send anyone out of the building and straight to the nearest house of pancakes.

I want to stop the service for just a minute, and explain to the beleaguered visitors that on most weeks, there is room enough for people to change seats during the service so they can sit nearer (or further) from the action, or to just sit with friends and enjoy their closeness during prayer; On most Shabbats, the service clips along and the text is one of unbridled joy and peace and renewal; During the year, there is a “relaxed formality” in the room, where we are cognizant of the prayers we are saying, but laid back about kids coming and going, people coming in wearing shorts or sandals, and so on.

But it’s Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur. There is no realistic way to do that. I wonder if it would help even if I could.

I am reminded, however, of a quote by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf, in his book “The One Hour Purim Primer.”.

The upshot is: if you are going to be a twice a year Jew, please please PLEASE make those two times a year be Purim and Simchat Torah. Come when there is joy, and celebration; when you are likely to walk away with a positive experience that will make you want to return more often.

“For Jewish kids whose parents only take them to synagogue twice a year, I would like to cast a vote in favor of those two days being Purim and Simchat Torah, not Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. When children – and adults – immerse themselves in the celebration of Purim one of the most important lessons they learn is that Jewish life incorporates the gamut of human emotional experience. Singing and dancing, costumes, fun and all around merrymaking are as integral to Judaism as charity, prayer and fasting. “

(My nefarious ulterior motive exposed:) I want you to come at a time when you have such an amazing, engaging, interactive experience that you will WANT to come back again. And by the time next year rolls around and the High Holidays are upon us, you too will know that these two moments in time are not emblematic of the entire year. At that point you will understand that there is a beautiful rhythm – each point on the calendar flowing with unique levels of emotion, spirituality and effort; where some days (like Yom Kippur) are long and intense and require mental preparation. But others are so easy and fast that you feel a pang of regret when they are over. I want you to have a chance to see both ends of that spectrum, and everything in-between.

So if you are planning to be a “twice a year Jew“, please mark your calendars and I’ll plan to see you on the nights of October 20 (Simchat Torah) and March 7 (Purim). You can find me at the door, wearing the chicken costume (on Purim, at least) and pointing newcomers toward the cookies, schnaps and dancing.

This week’s parsha of Tetzaveh is about temples, sacrifices and priests – oh my! Seriously, we who live in the 21st Century have a hard time understanding the reasons for all of this. Regarding kohanim, it goes against our modernity and and sense of egalitarianism that people should be given power for reasons of heredity. After all, look at what happened in North Korea. And animal sacrifices? In the day of PETA looking over our shoulders, do we really want to read about how to sacrifice bulls and rams and spread their blood on altars? Should we look to this ancient past for inspiration and help in our time?

The answer is, “Yes, we should!”

It is important to keep the Torah in modern perspective. It was written by men many years ago who were primarily concerned about how to maintain the cohesiveness of a tribe and people. It was also about how our people viewed G-d and their place in the world. It worked! Jews still identify as Jewish after thousands of years based on a shared heritage and respect for the wisdom of the Torah. But is the Torah all wisdom? No. There are things written, such as in this week’s parsha (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10), that had significance in that day and age, but simply don’t fit into the 21st Century.

Judaism evolves, as all religions and ideologies should evolve, to keep up with modernity. As human beings reach higher levels of moral maturity, we will naturally discard ancient ideas that conflict with these new realities. The wisdom of the Torah is mutable – and this is a good thing. As Jews, we need flexibility in our lives as well as our religion to adopt to new circumstances. If there is a lesson here for us in this week’s parsha it may be that we should learn how to discern true wisdom from ancient practices. Being careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water, as modern-day Jews, we still have a need to read the Torah with discernment.

Editors Note: we will be having a Tu B’Shevat themed service on Tuesday, February 3rd at 8PM EST at OneShul.org

When most people think of Shevat, they think of Tu b’Shevat, the “new year” of the trees. Tu b’Shevat is one of the four new years in the Jewish religion. What began thousands of years ago as a tax day on fruit trees, has grown into the Jewish arbor day and/or a spiritual opportunity to explore new growth and our connection to the environment. Like so many of our holidays there are so many layers, so Tu b’Shevat can offer an amazing array of in-roads to exploring Jewish practice.

Tree Planting
It’s no wonder that Jews love Tu b’Shevat, after all we call the Torah the “tree of life.” In ancient Israel we even planted trees when children were born to commemorate their birth and then these trees were used as the chuppah poles at their weddings. That’s just one of many amazing tree-based traditions in Judaism! If you want to plant a tree for Tu b’Shevat, there are lots of organizations that you can donate to that will help you with that, since it’s a lousy time of year to actually plant trees in most parts of the world. If this is what you are looking for, then check out Casey Trees and Jewish National Fund. I’m sure there are tons of other great organizations, and I hope you’ll share your favorite in the comments.

Seders
By now most people have heard of a Tu b’Shevat seder, even if they’ve never been to one. So where do you start? Thankfully, there are many free, and really good, Tu b’Shevat seders available online. Here are few of my favorites to explore:

If you are a more DIY kind of person, check out this Tu B’Shevat Seder Outline, from Kolel. It gives you a bit of a mix and match set up that allows you to easily create your own Tu B’Shevat seder.

Psalms
I learned about the tradition of reciting the fifteen “Psalms of Ascent” (120-134) during the first fifteen days of Shevat from my teacher, RK’Jill Hammer. She has taken this practice further by associating a specific type of tree with each psalm. Since the psalms have become a big part of my daily spiritual practices right now, I’m very excited to explore this concept this year.

You could even create prayer trees by writing or printing out pieces of the psalms of ascent and tying them to trees in your yard. Imagine if you write the psalms on pieces of ribbon or fabric, how pretty the tree would look! You could leave the fabric up just during Shevat, or if you use unbleached cotton or muslin, you could even just leave it to disintegrate naturally over time.

Final thought…

Whatever you do, take some time to appreciate Judaism’s long and complicated history with trees. You might even want to take time to reflect on your own relationship with trees and nature. No matter where you live, take some time to appreciate these amazing partners in life. Without trees, we couldn’t breath, have paper, firewood, and a million other things!

Ketzirah is a Kohenet, Celebrant, and Artist. She works with individuals and groups to explore, discover, and create meaningful rituals and ritual artwork to mark moments in life.